Steam turpentine still



April 24, 192 1,667,168

J. O. REED STEAM TURPENTINE STILL 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 24, 1928.

J. O. REED STEAM TURPENTINE STILL Filed July 28, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 //7 1/80 for 6 Patented Apr. 24, 192a.

I UNITED STATES 1,667,168 PATENT OFFICE.

JESSE o. REED, or raxmos, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE eovnnnmnn'r AND THE morn: or THE UNITED STATES or AMERICA.

swam runrnmrmn srn-L.

Application filed July as, 1927. Serial in. 209,094.

(GRANTED UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF THE ACT OF MARCH 3, 1883, 22 STAT. In, 825.)

This application is made under the act of March 3, 1883, chapter 143 22 Stat. 625) and the invention herein escribed and claimed may be used by the Government of the United States or any of its ofiicers or employees in the prosecution of work for the Government, or by any citizen of the United States, without payment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to steam stills for the distillation of crude tur entine gum and the production of rosin an spirits of turpentine, and for similar purposes.

The invention has for one of its objects the design of a steam turpentine still that will handle crude uncleaned turpentine gum or oleoresin, without requiring preheating or melting of the same. As crude turpentine gum contains an exceedingly high percentage of wood chips, bark, pine leaves, sand,

- etc., it has heretofore been necessary for the successful operation of a steam still to remove this refuse from the gum before distillation. In addition, because cold turpentine gum in its highly viscuous state is a poor heat conducting medium, it hasbeen necessary that the gum'be made liquid by heating before being introduced in a steam still. I the gum is not pre-lieated, in one section of the ordinary steam still turpentine spirits will be distilled off and rosin produced while in another section cold crude gum will remain. The steam still as described in this invention operates satisfactorily on crude uncleaued gum that has not been pro-heated. Another object of this invention is to provide turpentine distillation equipment that will produce in a more efficient manner a higher grade of rosin in less time and with lower losses than is being secured with present day fire and steam still equipment.

, Another object is to provide a steam still that will utilize the present fire still equipment and method of operation tp the greatest extent.

A further object of the invention is to provide a steam turpentine still that will 0 rate on all grades'of turpentine gum suc as scrape and cup skimmin without any difiiculties being experience in securing an even distribution of heat in the mass during distillation and in discharging the rosin with all foreign matter remaining after diltillation is complete.

One form of my invention is illustrated in the following drawings in which Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the still with the top removed; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the still partly in section; Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the still, partly in section, showing the cap and tail pipe; Fig. 4 is a detail view in cross section of the steam jet in the bottom of the still and Fig. 5 is a plan view of a portion of the same showing the passageways for the steam.

15y reference to the drawings it will be seen that the numeral 1 designates the body portion of the still, said body being caldron shaped, its bottom 2 being in the shape of an inverted truncated cone, said conical bottom converging to the base of a live steam jet 3. This live jet 3, fixed to the bottom of the still by lockuut 4,=feeds live steam to the turpentine gum, said live steam being necessary to distill oil the spirits of tur entine.

Additional heat for distillation is supplied by top steam coils 5 and bottom steam coils 6. Top coils 5 are spaced a sufficient distance from body 1 so as not to cause lod ing of foreign matter between coils 5 and b0 y 1. Said coils 5 are substantially (parallel to oneanother, steam being supplie to each pipe through inlet header 7 and condensate removed by exhaust header 8, inlet header 7 entering body 1 at top and being secured to the body by steam connect-ion 9, and exhaust header 8 having an exit in body 1 at the bottom of coils 5 and being secured to the body by pipe connection 10. Top coils 5 are held in place within body 1 by supports 11, the supports preferably being Z-sha ed to allow for expansion and contraction rom heat of coil pipes 5.

Bottom co1ls6 rest on supports 12 preferably made Z shape, said supports 12 being riveted to conical bottom 2. Bottom coils 6 are spaced from bottom2 1n order to allow free drainage during discharge of largequantities of foreign materialconsisting of wood chips, etc., in gum or rosin. Each pipe coil is supplied with steam by inlet header 13 and exhausts through exhaust header 14. Inlet header. 13 and exhaust header 14: are spaced sufliciently apart to allow; clearing for tail pipe or discharge pipe openin 15. Inlet header 7 and exhaust header 8 top coils are placed above headers 13 and 14 of bottom coils 6, thereby allowing satisfactory removal of foreign material in discharge of still.

Tail pipe or discharge pipe 16 is a straight pipe slightly sloping from the horizontal as shown. It is connected to still bottom 2 at opening 15 which is adjacent to live steam jet 3 and between header 13 and 14.

As the gum in the tail pipe is not cooked or distilled by the equipmentin body 1 of the still a live steam "connection 17 is provided near tail gate 18. This live steam connect on is placed preferably at top of pipe 16 so that the rosin will drain out during discharge of still and not remain and harden in pipe causing a choking of the steam connection. Live steam connection 17 is essentially a nozzle which is preferably formed by'a piece of copper tubing being shaped tangentially inside of tail pipe 16 and directed to discharge around periphery of pipe'at base of tail gate 18, thereby imparting a whirling motion to the steam as it is discharged into the tail pipe and causing agitation of the gum and tends to force the gum in the tail pipe out of said pipe and into the still proper.

Live steam jet 3 is an important unit of the steam still. It is a steam jet of a special type with a built in check valve E and is used to introduce live steam during the process of distillation, Located at the base of the inverted truncated conical bottom 2 it directs the spray of. steam along the conical sides'of the still bottom from passageways B spaced equally along the circumference of the mushroom shaped head A. Passageways B extend to the steam supply main C which is connected to the live steam supply pipe 25 at threads D. Check valve E rests on ground seat F in steam supply opening C, said check valve being held against seat F by spring G winch rests against plug H closing steam opening C. Valve E when in contact withground seat F closes port openings of passageways B. Whensteam is introduced into main C valve E is forced up from seat F and opens port-openings of passageways B. When steam supply is cut ofi spring G forces valve E against seat F and closes port open mgs and passageways B. Consequently gum or rosm cannot enter the live steam supply line and clog it.

Because of the rapid rate of distillation.

and the large amount of agitation caused by hve steam et 3 a large amount of foreign matter is blown over with the turpentine vapors intoa condenser (not shown) through still cap 19. In order to prevent this a conical shapedbaflle 20 is placed opposite or near .the point of maximum diameter of the still cap as shown in Figure 3. This baflle prevents the blowing of chips, bark, etc., over into the condenser with the spirits of turpentine.

The main features of the invention are as follows:

Crude gum as secured from the woods in its usual condition, mixed with wood chips, bark, sand, leaves and other impurities, is handled by the still. No cleaning,no preheating or liquefying of the gum is necessary as has been required with other steam stills. The invention permits turpentine gum to be handled as heretofore with the lire still. The skin'nning oil of trash during the distillation process is per ormed more satisfactorily than with the fire still. No obstructions interfere with skimming. Because of the peculiar caldron shape of the still it is possible with the top coil 5 turned on and the bottom coil 6 turned off to produce agitation that will cause all the trash behind coils 5 and from the sides of the still to collect in the center of the still, thereby making the skimming a more simplified operation than with the old type fire still.-

lVhen the spirits of turpentine have been distilled oil with the aid of the live steam jet the rosin with all the impurities can be readily and completely discharged without an objectionable quantity of residue remaining in the still. With the fire still it is necessary that the impurities be poled out but with a still of this type the discharge is complete.

With the features of design incorporated in this still, contrary to other types of steam stills, superheated steam or an excessively high steam pressureis not required, standard boiler pressures from 100 to 125 lbs. per square inch being entirely satisfactory. It is essential, however, for most satisfactory operation, that the steam be dry or contain practically no entrained moisture. The inverted truncated conical bottom, with the coils at asatisfactory distance from the bottom, permits complete discharge of all impurities with the rosin. The use of headers for supplying and draining the steam coils makes it possible for the still to cook the gum in a highly desirable manner.- Experiments have shown that a steam coil cooks turpentine gum to rosin only below the bottom of the coil. For this reason it has been impossible to distill all the-gum in a still into rosin unless the coils were placed close together and rested on the bottom of the still. Because of the poor drainage that would result in the discharge of the still this The steam jacketed bottom can be used but with the pressures required the installation would be very expensive and would not provide sufiicient heating surface to be rectical. Because of theconical shape of t e bottom and the corresponding shape of the coils each coil cooks the gum below the level of lull means of installation has been impossible.

the coil above it. In this manner all of the gum below the level of each pipe coil and between the bottom of coil 6 and conical bottom 2 of the still is cooked to rosin. It

plying steam and discharging the condensate from the coils instead of using a single pipe coil or worm. In the operation of a single coil or worm the condensed steam collects on the bottom of the coil and reduces the effective heat transmitting surface, especially of the bottom coil where'heat is required to the with the tail or discharge pipe greatest extent. The headers permit short lengths of pipe coil and allow the bottom coil to handle steam having the same heat capacity as the upper coils. The drainage of condensed steam from coils of this type is rapid and uniform. In addition, in the case of the bottom coil 6 headers 13 and 14 form an unobstructed discharge opening'while permitting heating coils to be placed on or below the level of the tail pipe opening 15.

Steam jet 3 in being placed in the center of the still bottom permits a forced agitation of material underneath coil 6 and also allows no point for gum to remain uncooked below the bottom coil pipe of coil 6. Tail pipe 16 leads off from'the conical-sidesof the bottom, allowing the placing of steam jet 3 in the center. The still discharges in the same manner as the present ty fire still avin no bends or curves to become obstructe refuse.

While in the specific embodiment of my invention above set forth I have described and also in the drawing have shown the still as comprising two separate and distinct sets of steam coils, it will be obvious that in one modification" of the apparatus, a single set of steam coils in place of two separatesets of coils may be used if desired without departing from the spiritof my invention. It will be-obvious that my still may be satis- I factorily operated when a single set of steam radial passageways.

lateral passageways.

coilin the still and its connecting headers and pipes for the su ply and discharge of steam and condensate eing simply and easily effected. However, as previously stated, I desire to use two separate sets of steam ,coils with. headers and other equipment as above described for the reasons that I am thereby enabled to obtain more erfect control of the-cooking operation of t e gum, ease of installation, and greater permanence of construction, account being taken of the expansion and contraction of the coils resulting from the employment of high temperatures, as well as for the reasons heretofore set forth. I

While I have described my invention as taking a particular form, it will be understood that the various parts of my invention may be changed without departing from the spirit thereof, and hence, I do not limit myself to the recise construction set forth but consider t at I am'at liberty to make such changes and alterations as fairly come within the scope of the appended claims.

The steam supply for coils 5 and 6 is controlled by valves 21 and 22 in pipes 23 and 24 connecting with inlet headers 7 and 13.

I claim: 5 y

1. In a turpentine still, a jet for introduce ing steam into the bottom of said still, said jet comprising a head havinga plurality of radial passageways communicating with a vertical central passageway, a valve in said head between said radial passagewaysand said central passageway, a steam'supply pipe communicatmg with said central passa w said valve s0 arranged as to be opera 1e by pressure in the said steam line to permit communication between said central and said 2. In a turpentine still, a jet for introducing steam into the bottom of said still, said jet comprising a head having a plurality of. lateral passageways communicating with a vertical central passageway, a valve in said head between vsaid lateral passageways and said central passageway, a steam supply pipe' communicating with said central pa way, said valve so arranged as to be opera le by pressure in the said steam line to permit communication between said anssii o. REED.

central and said 

